Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 483 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to make reforms to the benefits for Public Service Officers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 25, 2021 Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. BACON, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. BROWNLEY, and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to make reforms to the benefits for Public Service Officers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heroes Lesley Zerebny 4 and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act 5 of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 483 IH SEC. 2. AMOUNT OF BENEFIT INCREASED. 1 Section 1201(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con- 2 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(a)) 3 is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 4 striking ‘‘$250,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$550,000’’. 5 SEC. 3. DATE OF DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF BEN- 6 EFIT. 7 (a) DISABILITY BENEFIT.—Section 1201(b) of title 8 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 9 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘with 10 respect to the date on which the catastrophic injury oc- 11 curred’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to the date that a de- 12 termination is made to make such payment’’. 13 (b) DEATH BENEFIT.—Section 1201(i) of title I of 14 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 15 (34 U.S.C. 10281(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘as of the 16 date of death of such officer’’ and inserting ‘‘as of the 17 date that a determination is made to make such payment 18 subsequent to an application’’. 19 SEC. 4. AMOUNT OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 20 Section 1212(a)(2) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 21 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 22 10302(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall be computed 23 on the basis set forth in section 3532 of title 38, United 24 States Code’’ and inserting ‘‘shall be computed on the 25 basis set forth in section 1219’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 483 IH SEC. 5. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE AL- 1 LOWANCE. 2 Subpart 2 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime 3 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10301 4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 1219. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 6 ALLOWANCE. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 8 ‘‘(1) MONTHLY RATES.—The financial assist- 9 ance to be paid on behalf of an eligible person who 10 is pursuing a program of education consisting of in- 11 stitutional courses shall be computed at the rate 12 of— 13 ‘‘(A) $2,200 per month for full-time pur- 14 suit; 15 ‘‘(B) $1,700 per month for three-quarter- 16 time pursuit; or 17 ‘‘(C) $1,250 per month for half-time pur- 18 suit. 19 ‘‘(2) LESS THAN HALF-TIME BASIS.—The fi- 20 nancial assistance to be paid on behalf of an eligible 21 person pursuing a program of education on less than 22 a half-time basis shall be computed at the rate of 23 the lesser of— 24 ‘‘(A) the established charges for tuition 25 and fees that the eligible educational institution 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 483 IH involved requires to be paid by similarly 1 circumstanced noneligible persons enrolled in 2 the same program; or 3 ‘‘(B) $2,200 per month for a full-time 4 course. 5 ‘‘(b) TRAINING.—The financial assistance to be paid 6 on behalf of an eligible person who is pursuing a full-time 7 program of education which consists of institutional 8 courses and alternate phases of training in a business or 9 industrial establishment under which the training in the 10 business or industrial establishment is strictly supple- 11 mental to the institutional portion, shall be computed at 12 the rate of $2,200 per month. 13 ‘‘(c) FARM COOPERATIVE.— 14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 15 ‘enrolled in a farm cooperative program’, relating to 16 an eligible person, means that the eligible person— 17 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in an eligible educational 18 institution for a farm cooperative program con- 19 sisting of institutional agricultural courses 20 prescheduled to fall within 44 weeks of any pe- 21 riod of 12 consecutive months; 22 ‘‘(B) pursues such program on— 23 ‘‘(i) a full-time basis (consisting of a 24 minimum of 10 clock hours per week or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 483 IH 440 clock hours per year prescheduled to 1 provide not less than 80 clock hours in any 2 3-month period); 3 ‘‘(ii) a three-quarter-time basis (con- 4 sisting of a minimum of 7 clock hours per 5 week); or 6 ‘‘(iii) a half-time basis (consisting of a 7 minimum of 5 clock hours per week); and 8 ‘‘(C) is concurrently engaged in agricul- 9 tural employment which is relevant to such in- 10 stitutional agricultural courses, as determined 11 under standards prescribed by the Attorney 12 General. 13 ‘‘(2) COMPUTATION.—The financial assistance 14 to be paid on behalf of an eligible person who is en- 15 rolled in a farm cooperative program shall be com- 16 puted at the rate of— 17 ‘‘(A) $690 per month for full-time pursuit; 18 ‘‘(B) $517 per month for three-quarter- 19 time pursuit; or 20 ‘‘(C) $345 per month for half-time pursuit. 21 ‘‘(3) CALCULATION OF HOURS.—In calculating 22 the number of clock hours for purposes of paragraph 23 (1), the Attorney General shall include the time in- 24 volved in field trips and individual and group in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 483 IH struction sponsored and conducted by the eligible 1 educational institution through a duly authorized in- 2 structor of such institution in which the eligible per- 3 son is enrolled. 4 ‘‘(d) PROGRAMS IN REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES.— 5 The financial assistance to be paid on behalf of an eligible 6 person who is enrolled in a program of education at an 7 eligible educational institution located in the Republic of 8 the Philippines, shall be computed at the rate of $0.50 9 for each $1.00 otherwise payable under this subpart. 10 ‘‘(e) LICENSING OR CERTIFICATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 12 ‘licensing or certification test’ means a licensing or 13 certification test described in section 3501(a)(5) of 14 title 38, United States Code. 15 ‘‘(2) COMPUTATION.—Subject to paragraph (4), 16 the amount of financial assistance payable under 17 this subpart for a licensing or certification test is 18 the lesser of $2,000 or the fee charged for the li- 19 censing or certification test. 20 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF MONTHS.—The number of 21 months of entitlement charged in the case of an eli- 22 gible person for a licensing or certification test is 23 equal to the quotient (including any fraction) ob- 24 tained by dividing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 483 IH ‘‘(A) the total amount paid to the eligible 1 person for the licensing or certification test; by 2 ‘‘(B) the full-time monthly institutional 3 rate of the financial assistance which, but for 4 paragraph (2), the eligible person would other- 5 wise be paid under this subpart. 6 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—In no event shall payment 7 of financial assistance under this subsection for a li- 8 censing or certification test exceed the amount of the 9 amount to which an eligible individual is entitled 10 under this subpart. 11 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL TESTS FOR ADMISSION OR OPPOR- 12 TUNITY.— 13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 14 ‘national test’ means a national test for admission or 15 national test providing an opportunity for course 16 credit at institutions of higher learning described in 17 section 3501(a)(5) of title 38, United States Code. 18 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL TESTS.—Subject to paragraph 19 (4), the amount of financial assistance payable 20 under this subpart for a national test is the amount 21 of the fee charged for the national test. 22 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF MONTHS.—The number of 23 months of entitlement charged in the case of an eli- 24 gible person for a national test is equal to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 483 IH quotient (including any fraction) obtained by divid- 1 ing— 2 ‘‘(A) the total amount of financial assist- 3 ance paid to the eligible person for the national 4 test; by 5 ‘‘(B) the full-time monthly institutional 6 rate of financial assistance which, but for para- 7 graph (2), the eligible person would otherwise 8 be paid under this subpart. 9 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—In no event shall payment 10 of financial assistance under this subsection for a 11 national test exceed the amount of the amount to 12 which an eligible individual is entitled under this 13 subpart. 14 ‘‘(g) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Amounts under 15 this section shall be indexed annually to the college tuition 16 and fees component of the Consumer Price Index for All 17 Urban Consumers.’’. 18 SEC. 6. GAO STUDY. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 20 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 21 of the United States shall submit a report examining and 22 identifying ways to improve access to and the processing 23 of claims under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit pro- 24 gram under part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 483 IH and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281 et seq.) 1 to— 2 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 3 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- 4 sions of the Senate; and 5 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 6 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 7 House of Representatives. 8 (b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under sub- 9 section (a) shall examine— 10 (1) factors that may hinder access to the edu- 11 cation assistance benefit under subpart 2 of part L 12 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 13 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), such 14 as lack of awareness, delays in the application proc- 15 ess, or the timely processing of deaths and disability 16 claims; and 17 (2) the extent to which eligibility for benefits 18 and assistance under the Public Safety Officers’ 19 Benefit program under part L of title I of the Omni- 20 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 21 U.S.C. 10281 et seq.) is communicated to officers 22 upon employment and to eligible family members fol- 23 lowing the loss of a public safety officer. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H483.IH H483 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS